Parliament for sale… $100 million opens seat bazaar before ballot boxes
Parliament for sale… $100 million opens seat bazaar before ballot boxes
8-19-2025
Information / Special ..
As the upcoming elections approach, the doors of a heated political market are opening, ruled by the game of money and foreign loyalties. Parliamentary seats have become a commodity bought and sold in the market of influence, amid a price exchange led by figures imposed by the lapses of bad times, such as al-Khanjar, al-Halbousi, Muthanna al-Samarrai, Yazan al-Jabouri, and others. They are supported by external funding, where the agendas of regional and international countries intersect.
Informed sources in the electoral districts reveal that the price of seats in some “hot” districts will exceed the $1 million mark, in exchange for logistical support, legalized fraud, or even “paid withdrawals” to tip the scales in favor of a particular candidate.
Amid increasing talk of electoral trading and seat-buying, the Muthanna al-Samarrai coalition’s campaign is making headlines with unprecedented figures in political spending, allocating more than $100 million to purchase approximately 20 parliamentary seats, equivalent to an amount ranging between $5 and $6 million per seat.
Informed sources indicate that Al-Khanjar’s coalition has received significant Gulf support, under the guise of investment companies, to finance its election campaign, amounting to $40-50 million.
Meanwhile, Al-Halbousi’s coalition has allocated $30-40 million to finance its campaign in Sunni provinces and Baghdad, buying loyalties, mostly from Gulf states and Turkey, as well as contracts and domestic companies accused of corruption.
Yazan Al-Jubouri’s coalition has allocated $20-30 million to finance its election campaign, attempting to establish youth influence with the help of local and foreign businessmen and companies.
Dr. Ali Al-Tamimi, an electoral expert, says that what we are witnessing today is a dangerous undermining of the concept of elections as a democratic tool, transforming them into a political investment process. This threatens the legitimacy of the next parliament from now on.
Security and intelligence sources, as well as others from within the commission who declined to be identified, confirmed that “some election campaigns are being run from outside the country, and that huge sums of money have entered the country through illegal means to buy votes and recycle political figures who have lost their popular support.”
In this context, Al-Tamimi points out that foreign funding is no longer hidden, but is being managed through front companies and dubious civil society organizations, whose sole objective is to impose a non-Iraqi will within the next parliament.
These phenomena are accompanied by a wave of moral and political corruption, as seats are awarded to those with money, not those with competence, while national competencies demanding rights are excluded due to alliances based on money and influence.
Conversely, rising national forces demanding rights are seeking to restore the concept of elections as a means of peaceful change, emphasizing that they are betting on the awareness of the street and citizens’ adherence to their rights and gains.
Ultimately, the Iraqi street faces a major test: will it collapse once again under the weight of political money and deals? Or will it triumph for its dignity and rights through the ballot box?
The answer awaits the ballot boxes, but it begins with the citizen’s awareness and his demand for his usurped rights and the preservation of his achieved gains.
almaalomah.me
